Bangladeshis are aggressively in buying houses and properties in abroad. Dubai and London are in the list of this buying following Canada and the United States. The propensity of their purchasing assets has been increased so much that they are overpassing citizens of rich countries and becoming topper of the list.

Already, Bangladeshis are in number one spot in purchasing flats in Dubai. At the same time, they are in top 10 in purchasing properties in aristocrat places in London. According to the economists, the money earned by them, whether they were earned legally or illegally had been siphoned off abroad.

According to the report of some international media, businessmen, politicians and high-officials of government from Bangladesh are in the list of this purchasing and their investments in Dubai are kept confidential. Besides, the people who invest at least 1 crore Dirham or Tk 28 crore get the Golden Visa. The rules and regulation for the foreigners in buying houses are being made flexible. Hence, powerful and capable persons from all over the world purchase houses there. The Russian oil traders, who’re in western sanction, are purchasing houses in Dubai. At the same time, the oil traders who have been hugely benefitted due to price hike of oil are also coming to Dubai. Superstars form Hollywood, Bollywood and football arena are also purchasing hoses and flats there. However, even among these billionaires, Bangladeshis also took top position in the lists.

Bangladeshis in top 10 in purchasing properties in London

The most aristocrat areas in London are known to the local people as ‘Prime Central London,’ and the price of property is the highest here in London. According to the information of Astons, the London-based immigration-services, from January to September of 2020, Bangladeshis are in top 10 among the property-buyers in Prime Central London. According to the information of Night Frank, the British real estate and property management and the statistics of UK government, in first nine months of 2020, Bangladeshis are in 9^th place in the list of property buyers in Prime Central London. In that period, Bangladeshis purchased properties of 12 crore 29 lakh pound, which is equal to Tk 1,561 crore.  

According to the stats of British government, in January 2010, in the real estate sector of UK, the number of properties registered using Bangladeshi address was 15, but within six years, the number was increased to 52 in 2016, and in 2021 it was increased to 107.

According to the UK immigrants, the foreigners used to get permission to live in UK for five years, if they invest in 20 lakh pound as ‘Tier-1 Investor.’ They can apply for permanent residency afterwards. 1 crore pound is needed to get the permanent residency approval in 3 years. Despite this visa system was stopped after Russia-Ukraine war, but investment-based immigration systems in innovator visa and scale-up visa categories also available there. The people who come to UK in these categories are big buyer in aristocrat areas of Prime Central London.

According to the sources, the law against money-laundering is very strict in UK and it’s not easy to open a bank account here. Even after that Bangladeshis purchasing of lots of houses or properties are creating wonders!

One-third of Bangladeshis migrated to Canada in last decade

According to the last census of Canada, at the moment, the number of Bangladeshis living in Canada is 70,090 and one third of them went there from 2011 to 2021. Canada is the top choice among the Bangladeshi migrators for its social security facilities and high standard of living. Using the loopholes of law, many people have exploited the opportunities to live there in investor quota by siphoning money and assets.

However, Canada government canceled the provision of selling houses to the immigrants, as the natives are facing problems in purchasing hoses because of the buying of immigrants.

According to the experts, if the expatriates and local people are given easy terms and conditions in purchasing plot and flats in Bangladesh, then their propensity of purchasing it abroad will be decreased. It will create more investment and more dollars will come into the country.

@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on February 9 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque